Language Barrier
by Iceheart123
Summary: What would have happened if Zuko had wandered into the clans' forest after "Zuko Alone". Happens at the end of Rising Storm and follows Warriors canon. Constructive criticism is OK. ZukoXOC friendship
1. Chapter 1

Language Barrier

**Chapter 1**

**Iceheart (WindClan)**

Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA or Warriors

It was almost sunhigh when I first saw the strange twoleg. Back then, I didn't think much of him. To me, he was just a twoleg, one of the countless others that camped and fished along the RiverClan/ WindClan border. It was annoying, but surely nothing to get excited about. I remember being happy and filled with pride- I had just finished my vigil and had become a warrior at last. My apprenticeship had been problematic, what with my clan getting chased out of our territory by ShadowClan, then getting attacked just days after we returned. This Greenleaf though, It was difficult to feel bitter at my longer than average apprenticeship. Although there hadn't been any rain lately, the streams hadn't dried completely and hunting was good.

I was on the sunhigh patrol when I saw him. I had gotten used to twolegs during the time when my clan had been cast out of our territory, but I couldn't help taking a second glance at this one. He had short, dark hair, golden eyes and a large burn scar that stretched across the left side of his face. Also, he was riding the strangest creature. It looked like a horse, but had the beak of a bird. _If I live to be an elder, I will never understand twolegs _I thought. I reported it to Tallstar, but otherwise thought nothing of this strange new twoleg.

The second time I met him, we were both hunting. I was so focused on the rabbit that I didn't even notice him until I plowed right into him. The rabbit didn't have the luxury of having something to crash into, and it floated, thrashing and struggling, downriver. The fish that the twoleg had caught on the end of a stick was also lost. "You ignorant twoleg" I hissed. He started yowling angrily. I was irritated. Why was he acting all mad for anyway? He could have gotten the rabbit before it floated away if he had been paying attention. I didn't even give a thought to the fact that I hadn't been paying attention as well. I stormed off, bristling, to try to find another rabbit.

I was on the dusk patrol when I heard something. It sounded harsh, like thunder, but also not thunder. When I came to the crest of the hill, I was stunned. The twoleg was punching the air with his abnormally large paws. It looked like the slap-fights that some of the younger kits engage in. But fire was shooting out of the twoleg's limbs with every punch in concentrated blasts. That was what was making the sounds. I looked at my companions. Deadfoot had already left, presumably to report this new finding to Tallstar. Onewhisker was looking out at the twoleg, his shock mirrored my own. As I was walking back to camp, I looked back and thought grimly _mark my words, that idiot is going to set something on fire. _

A system soon developed between the twoleg and me. Every night, he would go out to punch the air, sending fireballs rocketing over the river and treecut place, and I would watch him from what I deemed to be a safe distance. I soon realized that this must be the way that twolegs fought. It looked beautiful, the way the fire shot out of the twoleg's limbs, but I also realized the potential for disaster. I shuddered when I thought of the damage that this power could cause to my beloved home, as well as its inhabitants.

It was on the third day that my prediction came true. He was practicing his twoleg fighting moves while I watched from the crest of a hill. Suddenly, one of his fireballs impacted one of the trees in treecut place. The fire quickly spread to the rest of the forest, crossing over into Thunderclan territory. I turned and ran to the camp and told Tallstar what had happened. He rushed to the tallrock, leapt on top and said the familiar words that called the clan to a clan meeting. He started immediately.

"Warriors of Windclan, a fire has started in the treecut place. Although this probably won't affect us, I will need all warriors on high alert."

Confused, panicky murmurs broke out amongst my clanmantes.

"What if the fire DOES come here? We've just barely come back to our home, we can't lose it again!" Morning flower wailed

Gorsepaw was crouched next to his mother; his eyes were wide with fear.

Tallstar's voice rose over the growing roar. "Quiet!"

A stunned silence fell as we all turned to our leader.

"Whatever happens, we all need to keep our heads. We aren't rabbits. We are not going to panic and run without thinking about it first. We survived getting chased out of our territory by Shadowclan and we'll survive this too. We are Windclan!"

The last statement was met with a roar. All fear was erased from the clan, forgotten in the desire to defend our home. Tallstar was right. We will get through this, just like we got through our exile at the hands of Shadowclan.

Tallstar set a watch at the edge of our territory. It was far enough away from the fire that, if it changed directions suddenly, the warriors posted there could get to the camp and report to him. Dead foot took first watch and so did Onewhisker.

I was still thinking about the strange twoleg. To my surprise, I had not felt much pride over being proved right about the twoleg's dangerous power. Instead, I felt anxious. As far as I could tell, he didn't seem to be especially bright, even by twoleg standards. He should have known that it wasn't a good idea to practice so close to treecut place. Then again, why should I be worried about HIM? This mess was his fault, after all.

A rumble of thunder interrupted my thoughts and soon rain poured down on the moor, proof that Star Clan was still protecting us. As my clan and I curled up together under silverpelt, we couldn't help but feel safe and protected, despite the smell of smoke that still lingered in the air.

**A/N: This story is set during the middle of the second season of A:TLA (after "Zuko Alone") and during the end of "Rising Storm" of Warriors. These are reflections of the characters after the events that happen. Also, This is my first Fanfic. Yay! :) Read and Review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Zuko (Fire Nation)**

Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA or Warriors

I had tried, in vain, to contain the fire, until the thunderstorm rolled through. I guess I should have been thankful to the rain for putting out the fire, but I hated getting wet. As the last water steamed off of my clothes due to my fire bending I finally reached the cave where I was staying. For some reason, it smelled strongly of cat. None lived there, but it was probably due to the fact that I was there. After what seemed like hours, I fell asleep.

When I opened my eyes, I realized that I was in a forest of some sort, but it had none of the familiar landmarks. The smell of ash and smoke had vanished from the air. Almost everywhere I stepped, some sort of prey animal darted out from underneath my feet. This didn't make sense. A good portion of the forest had been burned down. _By a fire YOU caused my mind_ reminded me acidly.

Without my noticing, the light had dimmed till it was almost nonexistent. Since I am a firebender, this wasn't a problem and soon a small fire flickered just an inch from my palm. With the increased visibility, I could see that this forest was not as cheerful as it had been just moments before. The forest looked dark and foreboding and there were no longer any signs of animal life.

As I was thinking about this, my firelight illuminated something that was unmistakingly alive. I almost attacked before I realized that it was only a cat. Unlike the white shorthair that sometimes watched my firebend, this one definitely didn't look appealing. It was a large, brown cat with scars all over its body. It looked like this cat had been in several catfights or something of that nature. It stared malevolently at me with its golden eyes.

When I turned away, I thought I heard a voice. It sounded like something along the lines of "Go away, filthy twoleg!" I turned to see who had said this, but there was no one there. Even the cat had vanished into thin air. No doubt about it, this place was definitely creepy. I turned around again to get back to the good forest when I realized that I didn't know how to get back. I was hopelessly lost.

I was just starting to panic when I heard another voice. This one was distinctly feminine, unlike the other one. It said "Yo mouse-brain, over here!" Curious, I moved closer to the voice and peeked out into the next clearing. There was the good forest, but again, there was nothing in the clearing, just the white shorthaired cat that I had been seeing recently. I stepped out into the forest and put out my fire.

The cat looked disdainfully at me, then it spoke. "You must be REALLY stupid. I would think that almost burning down a forest would teach you not to do that anymore, but apparently you haven't figured that out yet."

I bristled at that statement. "How dare you call me names? Do you have ANY idea who you are speaking to?"

The cat looked stunned, and it was then that I realized that it had just talked to me and could, apparently understand every word I said.

"Wait a minute, you can understand me?" we said almost simultaneously.

The cat looked imperiously at me. "Of course I can talk, mouse-brain, but you twolegs are the ones that can't seem to understand us not the other way around.

"The same could be said for you" I retorted.

I looked around. "Where are we anyway?"

She let out a low "Mrrow" and I realized that she was laughing at me!

"StarClan. It's where the spirits of clan cats go when they die." She said all of this so simply, as if any moron could figure it out. She looked at my expression of horror calmly. "By the way, we're not dead, just dreaming. Medicine cats sometimes go to StarClan when they dream."

I stepped out of the dark forest and joined the cat, who had set off at a fast trot.

"So...you mentioned 'clans.' Is that what you call yourselves?"

She let out another Mrrow of amusement. "Yes, I am a warrior of WindClan, RiverClan lives across the river, ShadowClan lives in the pine forest. You pretty much destroyed ThunderClan. They USED to live in the forest. Don't know where they are now, but I'm sure that they aren't in their camp! It looked as though the fire was headed there." _There are four of them_ I thought, thinking of the four nations.

I stood there, taking all of this in. The cat stopped next to me and began to casually lick her paw, swiping it over her ear.

"So, you all live together then?" I tentatively asked awhile later.

She nodded. "We have camps in our respective territories. Cats of different clans only see each other during gatherings. We hold them once a month at fourtrees." Before I could ask another question, she went on. "Fourtrees is the center of the clans geographically. Spiritually, we have the moonstone, where our medicine cats and leaders go to speak with StarClan."

"What's your name?"

She looked taken aback by this. "Iceheart" she replied.

I stared at her incredulously, "Iceheart!" I snickered.

She puffed out her chest, looking indignant. "It's a warrior name; we get it when we're finished with our training. Until a few days ago, I was known as Icepaw."

"Doesn't it get confusing?" I asked.

"For twolegs, maybe. But us clan cats have amazing memories. So.. what's yours?"

"My what?"

Another mrrrow. "Your NAME, mousebrain!"

I glared at her before answering. It wouldn't be fair to firebend at her for her antagonistic comments. After all, where was the honor in attacking a cat? Even if it was a warrior cat.

So I simply answered "Zuko, _Prince_ Zuko."

Iceheart stifled a snort. "_Zuko_. And you said _my_ name was strange."

Again, I stifled the urge to firebend at her. Instead, I lit a fire in my palm again to show her that I could do so if I wanted to. Instead of shutting her up, it had the opposite effect of making her more curious.

"Doesn't it hurt to light your paw on fire like that?" she asked.

"If it did, we wouldn't do it so much. It helps with visibility and makes an excellent threat" I said while I extinguished the flame.

Her tail twitched in amusement at this. "It works. Its _very_ threatening.

She turned to me. "So, what's your clan like?"

"There are no clans, but there are four nations. There's the Water Tribe, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation and the Air Nomads. We all live in areas based on what elements we can bend. I am a Firebender.

Iceheart sniffed "I guess things are the same everywhere, no matter what you call yourselves." I shrugged in response.

It was then that I noticed something was wrong. The forest was going out of focus, turning fuzzy. Iceheart noticed this too, but seemed more or less calm.

"It's daytime now. We are leaving Starclan." She explained before the forest disappeared completely and everything went dark.

**A/N: Sorry for changing the ending to this chapter, but I couldn't find a direction that the story could take. Also, I've made some grammatical changes to both chapters one and two. Please read and Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Graystripe (Riverclan)**

Disclaimer: I don't own Warriors or A:TLA. All the characters (besides Iceheart) and quotes belong to either Erin Hunter (for Warriors) or Mike and Bryan (A:TLA).

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The fire had cut a swath of destruction that cut across our territory. _Thunderclan's territory._ I reminded myself. _It isn't your home anymore._ I barely registered that Fireheart was there with me. He was my best friend and we had gone through so much together. It was only fitting that we would look for Yellowfang and Halftail together.

We reached the tree that had trapped Yellowfang and Halftail in the camp. It was nothing more than a charred hunk of wood. And beyond that was what was left of my home. The camp was in ruins, with all sheltering fern and bramble burned away. Next to the medicine den lay the smoke stained body of Halftail. Fireheart started to move towards his dead elder to bury him, but I stopped him. "I'll bury Halftail, you look for Yellowfang," I meowed.

As I dragged Halftail's body towards the camp entrance towards our burial place, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. A young twoleg riding on what looked like a cross between a horse and a bird. When I took a second look, however I couldn't help but stare. He stopped too. His gaze lit on Halftail and his expression changed from impassive to shock and... guilt? He mewled something but as with any twoleg, I couldn't understand him. I looked at him curiously as he mounted his... creature again. "Are you the twoleg that started the fire?" I mewed. He didn't answer, of course and instead rode off into the distance.

After I buried Halftail, I came back, only to find out that I had lost another clanmate. Yellowfang was dead.

**Zuko (Fire Nation)**

Last night, I had fully resolved to look for uncle. Going off on my own was starting to look like one of the stupidest decisions I had ever made. And that was saying something.Like the glutton for punishment that I am, I decided to leave through Thunderclan territory. What I saw was overwhelming. There was no prey anywhere. What had been in the forest had either fled or died in the fire. The forest was little more than charred pieces of kindling. I hoped that the cats had escaped the fire, but I couldn't be certain. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw two cats. The large grey cat seemed to be dragging a brown cat by the nape of its neck. Closer inspection revealed that the brown cat was dead. _He's dead because of me. I killed him._ No matter how evil and heartless the Avatar might think I am, I had never killed anyone before. This cat hadn't been killed for food. He had been killed because of a fire that I had started. I murmured an apology, but the cat didn't understand. And why would it? It was only a dream. The gray cat stopped and set his comrade down then mewed something at me. I could only imagine the insult that this creature had hurled at me. I mounted my ostrich horse once again, then set off once again into unknown territory.

**Iceheart (Windclan)**

I woke up early to see the twoleg, using hunting as an excuse. I had caught a rabbit, a solid alibi, and was making my way towards the place where the cave was, he was already leaving. I watched as he untied his horse, got on and rode off towards Thunderclan. Things had changed. I was no longer as skeptical of twolegs. They were different, but they were just as intelligent as cats were. _Well, maybe not this one _I thought, snickering. The firebender had become a tiny shape on the horizon, obscured by the charred trees in Thunderclan territory. I blinked, and the figure was gone. _Good bye, Zuko and good luck. Wherever you're going._

**A/N: I have revised this chapter a bit to answer the question about why Zuko and Graystripe don't communicate in the end. I hope this makes my intentions clear.** **This story will lead into ****A Dangerous Path**** for ****Warriors**** and "The Chase" in ****A:TLA. ****Thanks to everyone who reviewed or favorited this story. BTW I have watched ****The Last Airbender****. It wasn't as awful as I'd expected, but it still wasn't a the best movie that I've ever seen.**


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